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As the Esperanza sailed into Sydney, four Greenpeace inflatables and an Aboriginal group's yacht, the Tribal Warrior, went to meet the Esperanza and sailed in with her. She will spend 48 hours re-supplying in Australia, after 42 days at sea.
A press conference held in Sydney today announced our decision to head directly to Japan to continue campaigning for an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean. Australian Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage, Peter Garrett, formerly of rock band Midnight Oil, is urging Australia's Prime Minister to also use his forthcoming visit to Japan to call for an end to the Southern Ocean hunt.
The crew of the Esperanza spent over a week on standby to assist the fire-disabled whaling factory ship, Nisshin Maru in the Ross Sea in Antarctica last month, to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew as well as witness any possible environmental impacts from the fire. The Esperanza then escorted the entire whaling fleet out of Antarctic waters.
Expedition leader Karli said, "Whaling on the high seas will only stop when the Japanese government commits to ending it."
It is reported that the government of Japan intends to repair the Nisshin Maru and continue to whale later this year, including plans to increase to fifty the number of endangered fin whales hunted and add fifty threatened humpback whales to the quota of 935 minke whales for the Southern Ocean in nine months time.
According to a recent survey, two-thirds of Japanese people do not support what their government is doing in the Southern Ocean.
"While we were with the disabled fleet we generated a level of debate on this issue in Japan that has been unprecedented, questioning the validity of the government whaling programme. However, it has become obvious that the Japanese government wants to give the incident as low a profile as possible," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan whales campaign coordinator.
This is the second time the Nisshin Maru had a fire on board in the last nine years. The cause of the blaze has not been disclosed, despite the fact it resulted in the death of one crew member.
We have also invited representatives of the Fisheries Agency of Japan and the Institute for Cetacean Research on board the Esperanza when she arrives in Tokyo, and are awaiting their reply.
Ocean Defenders around the world watched the Esperanza's arrival on our live webcam! Check out the best (and worst) shots on our flickr group.
A press conference held in Sydney today announced our decision to head directly to Japan to continue campaigning for an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean. Australian Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage, Peter Garrett, formerly of rock band Midnight Oil, is urging Australia's Prime Minister to also use his forthcoming visit to Japan to call for an end to the Southern Ocean hunt.
The crew of the Esperanza spent over a week on standby to assist the fire-disabled whaling factory ship, Nisshin Maru in the Ross Sea in Antarctica last month, to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew as well as witness any possible environmental impacts from the fire. The Esperanza then escorted the entire whaling fleet out of Antarctic waters.
Let's go to Tokyo
Expedition leader Karli said, "Whaling on the high seas will only stop when the Japanese government commits to ending it."
It is reported that the government of Japan intends to repair the Nisshin Maru and continue to whale later this year, including plans to increase to fifty the number of endangered fin whales hunted and add fifty threatened humpback whales to the quota of 935 minke whales for the Southern Ocean in nine months time.
According to a recent survey, two-thirds of Japanese people do not support what their government is doing in the Southern Ocean.
Making it "big in Japan"
"While we were with the disabled fleet we generated a level of debate on this issue in Japan that has been unprecedented, questioning the validity of the government whaling programme. However, it has become obvious that the Japanese government wants to give the incident as low a profile as possible," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan whales campaign coordinator.
This is the second time the Nisshin Maru had a fire on board in the last nine years. The cause of the blaze has not been disclosed, despite the fact it resulted in the death of one crew member.
We have also invited representatives of the Fisheries Agency of Japan and the Institute for Cetacean Research on board the Esperanza when she arrives in Tokyo, and are awaiting their reply.
Ocean Defenders around the world watched the Esperanza's arrival on our live webcam! Check out the best (and worst) shots on our flickr group.
Esperanza weblog
Ocean Defenders TV
